Second graders log in their answers with student response systems

Today, I visited Orendorf Elementary School in the Northeastern School District to see how second graders are using a student response system in class.

Teachers Kristen O’Keefe and Shannon Oliver are using the systems, called Qwizdom, in their classes. It works like this:

The teachers post a question for the class.

And the students use these remotes to log in an answer, game-show style. The system immediately tells the kids whether they got the answer right or wrong, and then the teachers can go over the answer with the entire class. A graph on the screen will show how many students got the answer right or wrong.

Oliver said she can get feedback by individual student, so she knows which questions a student might have had trouble with, or she can print out class-wide results, which can help guide where she needs to focus instruction in that unit.

O’Keefe said it helps the teachers group students, because they can see who might need enrichment or remediation and who gets a concept.

“It’s great way before we give the test to see what they’re still struggling with,” she said.

As they reviewed math concepts on Friday, students in both classes could be heard whispering “yes!” if they got an answer correct, and the entire class cheered when everyone answered a question correctly.

“The kids are so excited every time we get Qwizdom remotes out,” Oliver said. “You’ll always her them cheer when they get the right answer.”

I was posting updates to Twitter while I was there, so you can check out my profile if you would like to see those, or follow along for my next trip!

About Angie Mason

I'm the education reporter at the York Daily Record. Follow me on Twitter: @angiemason1